China accuses detained Canadian of stealing state secrets

China has accused the detained Canadian citizen Michael Kovrig of stealing state secrets, in the latest escalation of tension between the two countries after Canada approved the extradition of the senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to the US.

Chinese authorities said Kovrig, who has been in detention in China since December, was passed intelligence by the Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, according to a statement released on Monday night by the Chinese Communist party’s central political and legal affairs commission. Spavor has also been in detention since December.